To all those retirees who have served our great nation and live in Jacksonville, our health care in this town is substandard.

We have to get on a van provided by DAV Chapter 16 to go to Fayetteville and Durham for care, and this is unsatisfactory.

I have written to Rep. Walter B. Jones about how to fix this problem by expanding the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune and have the VA man new wings with doctors so we donít have to go on long trips to out-of-area hospitals.

The other problem I see is that this area does not pay medical professionals well enough to compete with other areas in the state. I say this is nonsense. This is the biggest Marine Corps Base on the East Coast, and we should have a modern hospital able to take care of all active duty and retired military men and women under one roof.

As we have around 60,000 veterans that live in Onslow County, most of whom need or will need medical care, expanding the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune to accommodate VA care and specialists would ultimately save money.

Please write or call Walter B. Jones and letís try to get the medical care situation for veterans in this area fixed.